There was another boom as the stranger knocked again, causing Dudley to finally jerk awake. "Where's the cannon?" He asked, causing both Harry and Anna to roll their eyes. Anna heard a crash before Uncle Vernon came tumbling into the room, holding a rifle in his hands. "Who's there?!" He shouted. "I'm armed!"
For a moment there was silence, and Anna thought that perhaps the mystery person have been scared off, although Vernon was shaking so much he probably couldn't hit his target if his life depended on it. Then...Anna gave a small scream of surprised as the door was hit with such force that it was not clear off of its hinges. A giant man stood there, his whole face almost covered by a light brown beard. Anna would have been terrified if not for the kindness that sparkled in his black eyes. He somehow managed to squeeze himself into the shack and he bent down, picking up the door and fixing it back on to the frame. He then turn to gaze at everyone. "Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey." He plopped down on the couch after making a petrified Dudley scoot over. Dudley hid behind his mother who was hiding in turn behind Uncle Vernon. The stranger looked at Harry and Anna, a smile on his face.
"An' here's Harry an' Anna! Las' time I saw you two, you was jus' two little babies. Harry, ya look jus' like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes, while Anna here is almos' the spittin' image of yer mum."
Anna found herself smiling at the man. She couldn't seem to help it. Uncle Vernon, however, was definitely not smiling. "I demand that you leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!"
"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great big prune!" The large man said, and Anna watched in surprise as he grabbed the shotgun,sending it into a not as easily as though it is made of soft rubber before tossing it into a corner of the room. "Anyway, Harry, Anna." He now completely ignored Uncle Vernon. "A very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here- I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." he reached into an inside pocket of his ginormous coat, withdrawing a squashed box. Harry and Anna opened it with somewhat trembling fingers. Inside was a large chocolate cake with ' Happy Birthday Harry and Anna ' written in green icing. Anna would have bet anything that it tasted 10 times better than Mrs. Figg's cake. An event the man, but all Harry could ask was, "who are you?"
Anna wanted to rebuke Harry for being rude, but the stranger chuckled, seemingly unoffended. "True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. What about that tea then, eh?" He rubbed his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind." His eyes wandered to the empty fireplace and he snorted. Anna watched as he walked over to the fireplace. She couldn't see exactly what it was that he was doing, but a few seconds later there was a roaring fire. He then sat back down on the couch, pulling an assortment of different items from his coat. Anna's eyes widened as he pulled out of a kettle, a package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several tea cups with multiple chips, and a bottle of what Anna suspected to be smell of cooking sausages filled the room, causing Anna's stomach to growl loudly. No one said a word as he worked. Finally he slid the sausages off the poker, and Anna bigt back a giggle as Dudley fidgeted a bit.
"Don't take anything he gives you, Dudley!"Uncle Vernon said sharply, and Hagrid chuckled darkly. "Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore Dursley, don' worry." He then passed the sausages to Harry and Anna, who devoured their helpings. Anna had never tasted anything so delicious in her entire life. "I'm sorry," Harry said to Hagrid, "but I still don't know who you are."
Hagrid took a sip of his tea before responding. "Call me Hagrid, everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts. Yeh'll know all about Hogwarts o' course."
Harry and Anna exchanged a confused look. What the hell was Hogwarts?
"Sorry." Harry told Hagrid apologetically.
"Sorry?" Barked Hagrid, turning to look at the Dursleys, who were trying to hide themselves in the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh two weren't gettin' yer letters, but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know about Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"
"Learned all what?" Anna asked. She honestly had no idea what Hagrid was talking about.
"ALL WHAT?!" Hagrid's angry, booming voice made Anna whimper softly. Hagrid's anger wasn't directed at her, but at the Dursleys. "Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, well, mostly Vernon, "that these two don' know nothin' about ANYTHING?"
Harry seemed a bit offended by this. "We know some things. we can, you know, do math and stuff. And can you please not shout? You're scaring my sister."
"Sorry." Hagrid apologized, his voice considerably more quiet than what it had previously been. "But I'm talkin' about our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parent's world." Anna shook her head, more perplexed than ever. "Hagrid, we have no idea what you're even talking about."
"DURSLEY!" He roared, and Uncle Vernon whispered some gibberish that Anna couldn't make out. "But yeh must know about yer mum an' dad. Hagrid said to the twins. "I mean, they're famous. Harry, you're famous."
Harry famous? Last Anna checked, Harry hadn't done anything exceptionally remarkable. Uncle Vernon finally seemed to have found his voice. "Stop! I forbid you to tell the children anything!"
even the most courageous of men would have cowered under the look Hagrid gave Vernon. "You never told them? never told them what was in the letter that Dumbledore left for them? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from them all these years?"
Harry and Anna glanced at each other, each wondering exactly what was in the letter. "What have they kept from us?" Harry pressed Hagrid eagerly.
"I FORBID YOU!" Vernon continued to shout, and Aunt Petunia gasped in horror. By this point Hagrid was mostly ignoring them. "Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh." Said Hagrid. "Harry, you and yer sister are wizards- although if you want to be politically correct, Anna here would be a witch."
"I'm a what?" Anna and Harry simultaneously gasped. And I couldn't believe it. Which is, wizards, magic, it wasn't real, it was something you read about in novels.
"Yer a witch an' wizard o' course." Hagrid took up his spot on the sofa once more. "An' thumpin' good ones, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's about time yeh read your letters."
Anna eagerly grab hers, taking a moment before she ripped it open. Finally she was about to figure out what was in all those mystery letters that had never arrived.